Encyclopaedia Iranica Online

a kind of story often defined as “an animal tale with a moral"; there is no exact Persian equivalent of the term, but the words afsāna, dāstān, hekāyat, qeṣṣa, and samar are used to refer to such stories. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 137-138 FABLE, a kind of story often defined as “an animal tale with a moral” ( Funk and Wagnalls, s.v. “Fable”; cf. Thompson, 1977, p. 10). There is no exact Persian equivalent of the term, but the words afsāna, dāstān, hekāyat, qeṣṣa, and samar are used to refer to such stories. Joseph Jacobs defined the fable as “a sho…

or LODEWYCK (b. Brazil, 1648; died Stockholm, 1729), Swedish envoy to the Safavid court. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 138-140 FABRITIUS, LUDVIG (LODEWYCK), Swedish envoy to the Safavid court (b. 1648 in Brazil, of Dutch parentage; d. 1729 in Stockholm). Fabritius headed three missions to Persia representing the Swedish crown in 1679-80, 1683-84, and 1697-1700. Fabritius came to Moscow with his stepfather in 1660 or 1661 and subsequently pursued a career as an officer in the Russian army. He took part in a number …

This article will deal with the faculties of Agriculture, Fine Arts, Law and Political Science, Letters and Humanities, and Medicine, which are among the oldest and most important secular institutions of higher education in Persia. Other faculties of the University of Tehran and main faculties of other major universities will be treated under individual UNIVERSITIES. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 140-156 FACULTIES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEHRAN. The University of Tehran was founded in 1313 Š./1934 from four pre-existing schools ( madrasas) wh…

See MADRASA-YE ʿOLŪM-E SĪĀSĪ.

Download this sound. title Fadāye Roḳsār - Dekr Qāderieh genre/topic Dekr language Sorani Kurdish performer Ḵalifeh Mirzā Āğah Ğowṭi instrument Voices and dafs composer   author/poet   first line of poem   recorded by   place of recording   date of recording   duration 1:24 source Regional Music of Iran. Sufi Music. Zekr-e Yā Rahmān. Mahoor Institute of Culture and Art, 2007 (M.CD-226), track 2.Used with permission of the publisher. note   EIr entries DAF(F) AND DĀYERAḎEKR

See BĀDŪSPĀN.

(d. Khorasan 999), Turkish eunuch and slave commander of the Samanid army in Transoxania and Khorasan during the closing decades of that dynasty’s power. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 156 FĀʾEQ ḴĀṢṢA, ABU’L-ḤASAN (d. Khorasan 389/999), Turkish eunuch and slave commander of the Samanid army in Transoxania and Khorasan during the closing decades of that dynasty’s power. Except that he was part of the Samanid amirs’ slave guard nothing is known of Fāʾeq’s antecedents, but at the beginning of the reign of the minor Nūḥ …

See BĀBĀ FAḠĀNĪ.

(b. Stockholm, 1818; d. Shiraz, 1879), Swedish physician in Shiraz, 1848-79. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 156-157 FAGERGREN, CONRAD GUSTAF (b. Stockholm, 7 August 1818, d. Shiraz, 10 October 1879), Swedish physician in Shiraz, 1266-96/1848-79. Fagergren was the son of a wood-carver and was first trained as a bath attendant and barber-surgeon. Later he studied medicine in Stockholm and traveled in Europe, eventually enrolling in Russian military service. While with an army corps…

the most prolific producer of astronomical tables in the Islamic world. He is credited with a total of six tables, all of which are lost. There are three lists of these tables, given by Moḥammad b. Abū Bakr Fāresī, Šams Monajjem Wābeknavī, and Ḥājī Ḵalīfa. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 157-158 FAHHĀD, FARĪD-AL-DĪN ABU’L-ḤASAN ʿALĪ, b. ʿAbd-al-Karīm Šarvānī (fl. 6th/12th cent.; he is sometimes called by his father’s name ʿAbd-al-Karīm), the most prolific producer of astronomical tables ( zīj) in the Islamic world. He is credited with a t…

See BĀRBAD.

an appellation given especially to the quatrains and by extension to the poetry in general composed in the old dialects of the Pahla/Fahla regions. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 158-162 FAHLAVĪYĀT (sing.: fahlavīya, Arabicized form of Persian pahlavī, in its original sense of Parthian), an appellation given especially to the quatrains and by extension to the poetry in general composed in the old dialects of the Pahla/Fahla regions. According to Ebn al-Moqaffaʿ (in Fehrest, ed. Tajaddod, p. 15, tr. Dodge, I, p. 24), Fahla consisted …

a rural district (dehestān) situated 12 km northwest of Nūrābād in the Mamassanī šahrestān. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 162-163 FAHLĪĀN, a rural district ( dehestān) situated 12 km northwest of Nūrābād in the Mamassanī šahrestān. It consists of the plain of Fahlīān and foothills. The Fahlīān River irrigates the plain only, and the foothills, despite being fertile, remain uncultivated due to lack of water. Two tributaries, one of fresh water and the other brackish, merge at a place called Sar …

subdistrict ( dehestān) and town in the Persian province of Yazd. The town (31ò 46’ N, 54ò 35’ E), 1270 m above sea level, is located 30 km southeast of Yazd on the main road to Bāfq and on the foothill of Čalta mountain. FAHRAJ, subdistrict ( dehestān) and town in the Persian province of Yazd. The town (31ò 46’ N, 54ò 35’ E), 1270 m above sea level, is located 30 km southeast of Yazd on the main road to Bāfq and on the foothill of Čalta mountain ( Farhang-e joḡrāfiāʾi,p. 70). In 1996 the population of the town was 16,549 (Markaz-e Amār-e Iran, p. 9). The local people are Persian-spea…

(b. Rašt, 1899; d. Tehran, 1988), educator, journalist, lawyer, and scholar. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 165 FAḴRĀʾĪ, EBRĀHĪM REŻĀZĀDA (b. 1278/1899 in Rašt, d. 16 Bahman 1366 Š./5 February 1988 in Tehran), educator, journalist, lawyer, and scholar. His father, Ḥājī Reżā, was a merchant in Rašt and a member of the Provincial Council (Anjoman-e eyālatī) of Gīlān during the Constitutional Revolution (q.v.). Ebrāhīm began his education in a local maktab (see education iii) at age five but later pursued modern education at Majīdīy…

See under BAHMANID DYNASTY.

See GORGĀNĪ, FAḴR-AL-DĪN ASʿADĪ.

See ʿERĀQI, FAḴR-AL-DIN.

See ʿABD-AL-ṢAMAD HAMADĀNĪ.

See Supplement.

See EBN ZARKUB ŠIRĀZI.

a 14th century spiritual leader of the Češtī Sufi order in India. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 163 FAḴR-AL- DĪN ZARRĀDĪ, MAWLĀNĀ, an 8th/14th century spiritual leader of the Češtī Sufi order in India. He hailed from Sāmāna (Ḥamīd, p. 64), but nothing else is known about his life prior to his involvement with the order. In Delhi he attended the assemblies of Mawlānā Faḵr-al-Dīn Hānsawī, where the renowned shaikh Naṣīr-al-Dīn Maḥmūd Čerāḡ-e Dehlī (q.v.) and Mawlānā Kamāl-al-Dīn Sāmāna also took instructions in mystic guidance or hedāya (Ḥamīd, p…

b. Neẓām al-Molk (1043-1106/7), eldest son of the great Saljuq vizier and himself vizier to the Saljuq sultans Barkīāroq (1092-1105) and Moḥammad b. Malekšāh (1105-18). A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 164-165 FAḴR-AL-MOLK b. Neẓām al-Molk, ABU’L-FATḤ MOẒAFFAR (b. 434/1043; d. 500/1106-7), eldest son of the great Saljuq vizier and himself vizier to the Saljuq sultans Barkīāroq (q.v.; 485-98/1092-1105) and Moḥammad b. Malekšāh (498-511/1105-18). He seems to have had no qualifications for office beyond the distinguished name o…

See ABU’L-ḤASAN KHAN ARDALĀN.

See ʿABD-AL-NABĪ QAZVĪNĪ.

pen-name of Moḥammad b. Manṣūr b. Saʿīd, entitled Mobārakšāh, author of two prose works in Persian written in India in the late 12th and early 13th century, a book on genealogy with no formal title and the famous Ādāb al-ḥarb wa’l-šajāʿa. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 164 FAḴR-E MODABBER, pen-name of Moḥammad b. Manṣūr b. Saʿīd, entitled Mobārakšāh, author of two prose works in Persian written in India in the late 6th/12th and early 7th/13th century, a book on genealogy with no formal title and the famous Ādāb al-ḥarb wa’l-šajāʿa (q.v.). Most of t…

See ŠAMS FAḴRI.

See BANĀKATĪ.

b. Moḥammad Amīr Khan (or Solṭān) Amīrī Heravī (b. Herat, ca. 1497, d. probably in Agra, after 1566), poet, scholar, and Sufi who wrote on various aspects of the poetic art. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 165-166 FAḴRĪ HERAVĪ, SOLṬĀN-MOḤAMMAD b. Moḥammad Amīr Khan (or Solṭān) Amīrī Heravī (b. Herat, ca. 903/1497, d. probably in Agra, after 974/1566), poet, scholar, and Sufi who wrote on various aspects of the poetic art. His father was also a poet, who had adopted the pen name Amīrī (Golčīn-e Maʿānī, Kārvān-e Hend II, p. 996; idem, Taḏkerahā I, p. 430…

an obsolete Persian name for a columbine bird, most probably the so-called “collared turtle dove." A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 166-168 FĀḴTA, an obsolete Persian name (older * fāḵtak/g;cf. the pl. fāḵtagān; arabicized as fāḵeta, pl. fawāḵet; see also Schapka, no. 577, p. 180) for a columbine bird, most probably the so-called “collared turtle dove,” Streptopelia decaocto Frivaldszky (order Columbiformes), mentioned in classical Persian poetry mainly as a spring songbird. Manūčehrī Dāmḡānī (q.v.; d. ca. 432/1041?), “the [Persian…

a master vocalist of Persia in the second half of the 20th century. See QAWĀMI, ḤOSAYN.

See DIVINATION.

Arabic word for "sphere" (pl. aflāk). In Persian works of literature it is often referred to as being responsible for determining people's destiny. See ASTROLOGY AND ASTRONOMY IN IRAN; COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY.

also falak, čūb o falak; one of the most common instruments of corporal punishment in Persia. FALAKA (also falak, čūb o falak), one of the most common instruments of corporal punishment in Persia. The victim would be made to lie down on his back, and his feet would be fastened to a pole of about 2-3 m long with a loop in the middle made of leather or rope. The loop was held in place by passing its two ends through two holes made in the pole about 20-25 cm apart, with knots at the end to prevent the cord from slippin…

a sling. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 168-169 FALĀḴAN (a sling), a term probably derived from the Avestan fradaxšanā- (Darmesteter, II, p. 215, n. 38; AirWb., col. 981). Asadī Ṭūsī ( Loḡat-e fors, ed. Mojtabāʾī and Ašraf, pp. 197-98), quoting a verse by Rūdakī, defined falāḵan as kalāsang. Kalāsang/ qalmāsang is described as a device “woven from wool or silk with which shepherds and footmen ( šāṭerān) throw stones” ( Borhān-e qāṭeʿ, ed. Moʿīn, III, pp. 1486-87, 1539; cf. Garūsīn, p. 84). In central Persia today, ke/kolāsang and kalāsonga are use…

Download this sound. title Falak-e Matam genre/topic Falak, robā‘iyāt language Tajik Persian performer Mosavvar Minak (b. 1933), robāb and voiceZuqubeyk Gorminj, setārBeyk Mohammad Vātan Šāhzādeh, dayra instrument Robāb; Setār; Dāyra; Voice composer   author/poet   first line of poem Duny ā hama hi č kār-e dunyā [ey] dunyā hama hi č recorded by Sāsān Fātemi place of recording Dushanbe, Tajikistan date of recording 1999 duration 4:32 source Transoxania: Folk Music of Persian-Speaking People. Mahoor Institute of Culture and Art (M.CD-153), track 9, 0:00-4:32.Used with permissio…

or ŠERVĀNĪ, a Persian poet of the first half of the 12th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 169 FALAKĪ ŠARVĀNĪ (ŠERVĀNĪ), Abu’l-Neẓām Moḥammad, a Persian poet of the first half of the 6th/12th century. The only ruler mentioned in his published poems is the Šarvānšāh Manūčehr II, who ruled ca. 516-55/1122-61 (for these dates see Storey and de Blois, V/2, p. 248, n. 2). It is thus likely that Falakī died during his reign. The date 577/1181-82, which Taqī Kāšī and others give for h…

prominent mojtahed of Shiraz (1840-1901). He led the prayer at Wakīl Mosque, where he regularly preached, and for years he wielded great influence in the religious, political, and social affairs of the city. He was an active opponent of the tobacco concession and instigated a riot against it. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 169-170 FĀL-ASĪRĪ, Ḥājj Sayyed ʿALĪ-AKBAR, prominent mojtahed of Shiraz (1256-1319/1840-1901; Encyclopædia Iranica | Articles). Born in Asīr, a village in the Galadār district of Fārs, he studied rel…

(b. Isfahan, 1926; d. Berlin, 30 December 1996), professor of Islamic studies at Cologne University (1974-96). A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 170-171 FALĀṬŪRĪ, ʿABD-AL-JAWĀD (b. Isfahan, 29 Dey 1304 Š./19 January 1926 ; d. Berlin 10 Dey 1375 Š./30 December 1996), professor of Islamic studies at Cologne University (1974-96). Falāṭūrī studied Arabic literature and the Islamic sciences with private tutors in his hometown of Isfahan while attending a German-Persian high school. He contin…

See BĀZ; BĀZDĀRĪ.

(b. Kāšān, 1910; d. London, 1981), deputy manager of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC; Šerkat-e mellī-e naft-e Īrān), in charge of international relations and marketing. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 171-172 FALLĀḤ, REŻĀ (b. 1328/1910, Kāšān; d. 1360 Š./1981, London), deputy manager of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC; Šerkat-e mellī-e naft-e Īrān), in charge of international relations and marketing, “a shrewd man of affairs, the Shah used him as a behind-the-scenes negotiator wi…

a book of presages and omens. The narrower and more common use of the term, equivalent to “bibliomancy,” is confined to texts used as material for divination by the reader directly or through a fortune-teller. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 172-176 FĀL-NĀMA, a book of presages and omens (see DIVINATION). The narrower and more common use of the term, equivalent to “bibliomancy,” is confined to texts used as material for divination by the reader directly or through a fortune-teller. These texts may also…

philosophy in the pre-Islamic period. For philosophy in the Islamic period, see also articles under individual authors and schools, e.g., AVICENNA, FĀRĀBĪ, ILLUMINATIONISM, ISFAHAN SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY, and MOLLĀ ṢADRĀ. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 176-182 FALSAFA, philosophy. i. PRE-ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY Pre-Islamic philosophy, which may be called Mazdean philosophy, is a syncretic system incorporating various Greek thought, predominantly Peripatetic and Neo-Platonic. Historical evidence traces its or…

See Supplement.

(b. Tehran, 1901; d. 1981), Persian historian, educator, journalist, translator, and poet. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 182-183 FALSAFĪ, NAṢR-ALLĀH (b. Tehran, 9 Āḏar 1280 Š./30 November 1901; d. 2 Ḵordād 1360 Š./22 May 1981), Persian historian, educator, journalist, translator, and poet. i. BIOGRAPHY Falsafī’s father was Mīrzā Naṣr-Allāh Mostawfī Savādkūhī, a government accountant. His maternal grandfather was Āqā ʿAlī Ḥakamī, son of Mollā ʿAbd-Allāh Zonūzī, both of whom were scholars and philosophers…

(1910-2006), Hungarian poet, translator, and publicist. FALUDY, GYÖRGY (George Faludy, b. Budapest, 22 September 1910; d. Budapest 1 September 2006), Hungarian poet, translator, and publicist. His father was a chemist and worked as a teacher in a higher technical school. He finished secondary school in 1928 and studied at the Universities of Vienna (1928-30), Paris (1931-32), and Graz (1932-33). In 1933-34 he did his military service and was promoted to ensign (his military rank was later withdrawn).In 1937 he translated Francois Villon’s ballads into Hungarian. His fre…

See ABU NAṢR FĀMI.

legal prescriptions dealing with marriage, divorce, the status of children, inheritance, and related matters. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 184-196 FAMILY LAW, legal prescriptions dealing with marriage, divorce, the status of children, inheritance, and related matters. i. IN ZOROASTRIANISM Mazdean family law is the most extensive and involved section of the civil code as set forth in the few surviving Middle Persian legal texts, especially the Sasanian lawbook entitled Mādayān ī hazār dādestān. It comprises a medley of orthodox le…

See ĀL-E ʿABĀ, lit. “Family of the cloak.”

a term for programs to regulate family size that came into use in the West in the 1930s. Although it originally encompassed efforts both to promote and to curtail fertility, explosive population growth in the developing countries since mid-century has narrowed its meaning to control of fertility. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 196-203 i. IN PERSIA Government-sponsored family-planning programs were introduced in Persia in the 1960s in response to accelerating population growth since the turn of the 20th century, amon…

in Persia. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 203-206 FAMINES. Famines have been reported throughout Persian history by numerous authors and observers. According to a compilation made by Charles Melville, they occurred in Khorasan in 115/733 (Melville, p. 130), in Sīstān in 220/835 (Melville, p. 130), in Khorasan and Sīstān in 400/1009-10 (Melville, p. 136), in Khorasan in 1099 (Melville, p. 136), in Kermān in 576/1180 and 662/1264 (Melville, p. 130), in Fārs in 683-85/128…

b. Loṭf-ʿAlī b. Moḥammad-Reżā (b. Sangsar, 1873), poet. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 206-207 FANĀʾĪĀN, Mīrzā FARAJ-ALLĀH JONŪN b. Loṭf-ʿAlī b. Moḥammad-Reżā, poet, born in the village of Sangsar, near Semnān in 1290/1873. A shoemaker by profession, his formal education was minimal, but four years of travel (1304-8/1887-91) with his mentor, the Bahai scholar and poet Āqā Moḥammad Fāżel Qāʾenī (Nabīl-e Akbar), provided him with an opportunity to acquaint himself with Persian li…

See ʿAŻOD-AL-DAWLA, FANĀ ḴOSROW.

See SENDBĀD-NĀMA.

pen name of Shaikh MOḤAMMAD-MOḤSEN b. Ḥasan KAŠMĪRĪ (d. 1670/71), Indo-Persian scholar and poet. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 207 FANĪ, pen name of Shaikh MOḤAMMAD-MOḤSEN b. Ḥasan KAŠMĪRĪ (d. 1081/1670-71), Indo-Persian scholar and poet, to whom the Dabestān-e-maḏāheb (q.v.) has wrongly been attributed (ʿAskarī, p. 85). He studied under Mulla Yaʿqūb Ṣarfī (d. 1013/1605) and Mulla Wāṣeb, a Persian poet from Kashmir (Ḥasan Khan, p. 308). The poets Mulla Ṭāher Ḡanī (d. 1079/1688) and Moḥammad Aslam …

lanterns. See ČERĀḠ.

See AFGHANISTAN xii. LITERATURE.

or Maftūn (fl. 18th century), Persian poet from the Indian sub-continent. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 207-208 FAQĪR DEHLAVĪ, MĪR ŠAMS-AL-DĪN (also called Maftūn), Persian poet from the Indian sub-continent (fl. 12th/18th century). He was born in 1115/1703 at Delhi and traced his origin, on the father’s side, to an uncle of the Prophet Moḥammad, ʿAbbās b. ʿAbd-al-Moṭṭaleb. On his mother’s side he was a sayyed, which accounts for the designation “Mīr.” He obtained his education i…

a small district on the middle Syr Darya in Transoxania, at the confluence of that river with its right-bank tributary, the Arys, which flows down from Esfījāb, and also the name of a small town within it. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 208 FĀRĀB (Pārāb, Bārāb; Ḥodūd al-ʿālam, ed. Sotūda, p. 117, tr. Minorsky, p. 118; Eṣṭaḵrī, p. 346, tr. pp. 307, 360; Moqaddasī/Maqdesī, pp. 26, 48), a small district on the middle Syr Darya (Nahr al-Šāš, Sayḥūn) in Transoxania, at the confluence of that river with its r…

Muslim philosopher of the 10th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2;3, 208-229 FĀRĀBĪ i. Biography The sources for the life of Fārābī are such as to make the reconstruction of his biography beyond a mere outline nearly impossible. The earliest and more reliable sources, i. e., those composed before the 6th/12th century, that are extant today are so few as to indicate that no one among Fārābī’s successors and their followers, or even unrelated scholars, undertook to write his f…

Farāh has retained practically the same name since the first millennium B.C.E. At the end of the first century B.C.E, the “very great city” of Phra in Aria was reckoned as a major stage on the overland route between the Levant and India. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 229-233 FARĀH (Farah in early Islamic sources), a town and province in southwestern Afghanistan. City. The city is located at 730 m above sea-level on both banks of the Farāhrūd river (q.v.). The old town, now in ruins, stood on the right bank at a strategic…

common place name throughout Persia, without any cultural or historical significance. The three best-known locales with this name are a city quarter of Tehran, the remains of a palace complext near Isfahan, and an Abbasid pleasure palace on the Caspian sea. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 233-234 FARAḤĀBĀD, common place name throughout Persia, without any cultural or historical significance. The three best-known Faraḥābāds are the following. City quarter of Tehran. This Faraḥābād is located 5 km east of the city wall of Tehran. A…

a district (baḵš) in Tafreš subprovince (šahrestān) of the Central (Markazī) province. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 234-235 FARĀHĀN, a district ( baḵš) in Tafreš subprovince ( šahrestān) of the Central (Markazī) province. The Farmahīn River traverses the district and drains into the Mīqān salt lake. Due to an abundancy of subterranean water, many perennial qanāts operate in the district which, together with its fertile soil, make possible both irrigated and dry farming. The main agricultural produce consists of c…

(1847-1913) Persian diplomat and author of a travelogue ( safar-nāma) intended to show how a Shiʿite pilgrim could successfully undertake the journey to Mecca. In it one learns much about Arabia, the Ottoman empire, and the Sunnis in general. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 235-236 FARĀHĀNĪ, MĪRZĀ MOḤAMMAD-ḤOSAYN, Persian diplomat and author of a Safar-nāma (born in Farāhān in 1264/1847; died 1331/1913; Figure 1). Farāhānī began his education under the supervision of his father, Moḥammad-Mahdī, who was chief secret…

See ADĪB-AL-MAMĀLEK FARĀHĀNĪ.

or Moḥammad, Maḥmūd; b. Abī Bakr b. Ḥosayn b. Jaʿfar Farāhī (fl. 13th century), poet and litterateur. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 236-237 FARĀHĪ, ABŪ NAṢR BADR-al-DĪN MASʿŪD (or Moḥammad/Maḥmūd) b. Abī Bakr b. Ḥosayn b. Jaʿfar Farāhī, poet and litterateur (fl. 7th/13th cent.). He hailed from the city of Farāh (q.v.) in the province of Sīstān in what is now Afghanistan. Next to nothing is known of Farāhī’s life. Reportedly blind from birth, he is said to have been a man of great sagacity, intellectual dexterity, powers …

river in southwestern Afghanistan, rising at about 3,300 meters above sea level in the Band-e Bayān, and, after a course of 712 km in a south-western direction, ending in the Hāmūn-e Ṣāberī (Sīstān) at an altitude of 475 m. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 237 FARĀHRŪD (Nahr Farah, Ar. translation of Farāhrūd, in Eṣṭaḵrī, pp. 244, 247; Ebn Ḥawqal, p. 420, tr. Kramers, p. 410; Moqaddasī, p. 329), river in southwestern Afghanistan, rising at about 3,300 meters above sea level in the Band-e Bayān (ḠÚōr), and, …

Bahrām Farahvaši was born into a family with a long tradition of literary and scholarly pursuits. His father, ʿAli Moḥammad Farahvaši (1875-1968), was one of the pioneers of education reform in the early 20th century and established modern schools in Tehran, Zanjan, and Azerbaijan. FARAHVAŠI, Bahrām (b. Urmia, Iran, 30 March 1925; d. San Jose, U.S.A., 29 May 1992; Figure 1), scholar and professor of ancient Iranian languages at the University of Tehran. Bahrām Farahvaši was born into a family with a long tradition of literary and scholarly pursuits. His father, ʿAli …

See DEHESTĀNI, ḤOSAYN.

the conventional reading of the name of an early Persian poet. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 238 FARĀLĀVĪ, the conventional reading of the name of an early Persian poet. Our sole biographical source is Moḥammad ʿAwfī’s Lobāb al-albāb (II, p. 5), which includes him in the chapter on the poets of the Samanids and quotes two verses by him. According to ʿAwfī, his full name was Abū ʿAbd-Allāh Moḥammad b. Mūsā Farālāvī, and he was a contemporary of Šahīd Balḵī, which would mean that he lived at the en…

son of Iran’s national hero Rostam, and himself a renowned hero of the Iranian national epic whose adventures were very popular, especially during the 10th and 11th centuries. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 238-239 FARĀMARZ, son of Iran’s national hero Rostam (q.v.), and himself a renowned hero of the Iranian national epic. His adventures were very popular, especially during the 4th/10th and 5th/11th centuries (Balʿamī, ed. Bahār, I, p. 133; II, p. 687; Farroḵī, vv. 1027, 7654). According to the Tārīḵ-e Sīstān (p. 7), the exploits of Farāma…

See ABŪ MANṢŪR FARĀMARZ.

(b. Gačūya, 1897; d. Tehran, 1972), an outspoken journalist, writer, educator, Majles deputy, and poet. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 239-240 FARĀMARZĪ, ʿABD-AL-RAḤMĀN (b.12 Rabīʾ I 1315/11 August 1897 in Gačūya, Farāmarzān, Fārs; d. 20 Tīr 1351 Š./11 July 1972, Tehran; Figure 1), an outspoken journalist, writer, educator, Majles deputy, and poet. Farāmarzī was the youngest son of Shaikh ʿAbd-al-Wāḥed, scholar, teacher, and chief of the Farāmarzī clan, who migrated to Bušehr after …

a Persian epic recounting the adventures of the hero Farāmarz. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 240-241 FARĀMARZ-NĀMA, a Persian epic recounting the adventures of the hero Farāmarz. According to the Tārīḵ-e Sīstān (p. 7) there was an account of Farāmarz ( aḵbār-e Farāmarz) in twelve volumes, but this work, presumably in prose, has been lost. Instead, two Farāmarz-nāmas, both poems composed in the motaqāreb meter (ᴗ--), are extant. One of them, which appears to be older, is by an anonymous poet who introduces himself as a vil…

See FREEMASONRY.

FARĀNAK, according to the Šāh-nāma, the mother of Ferēdūn; also the name of a wife of Bahrām V Gōr (q.v.).

See Supplement.

or FERANGĪ MAḤAL; family of Indian Muslim teachers, Hanafite scholars, and mystics active over the last 300 years. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 241-242 FARANGĪ MAḤALL (FERANGĪ MAḤAL), family of Indian Muslim teachers, Hanafite scholars, and mystics active over the last 300 years. The family claims descent, through the well-known 11th-century Persian Hanbalite scholar and Sufi poet ʿAbd-Allāh Anṣāriī (q.v.) Heravī, from Abū Ayyūb Ḵāled Anṣārī (d. ca. 52/672), host of the Prophet Moḥam…

eldest daughter of Afrāsīāb and wife of Sīāvaḵš. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 242-243 FARANGĪS, eldest daughter of Afrāsīāb and wife of Sīāvaḵš. In the Bundahišn (TD2, 35.21) her name is Vīspān-fryā. In Ṭabarī (I, p. 604) it appears as Vasfāfarīd and Vasfafarah. In Ṯaʿālebī’s Ḡorar (p. 205), however, it is recorded as Kasīfarī. On that basis, one might speculate that the no longer extant Šāh-nāma-ye Abū Manṣūrī (See ABŪ MANṢŪR Moḥammad b. ʿABD-AL-RAZZĀQ and ABŪ MANṢŪR MAʿMARĪ) also used this form or possibly Gīsfarī. It was …

FARANGI-SĀZI , a term (lit. making in an Occidental manner) referring to the style of a distinct group of Persian paintings from the second half of the 17th century. This new variant first appeared under the reign of Shah ʿAbbās II (q.v.; r. 1642-66) but was established under Shah Solaymān (1666-94). Farangi-sāzi paintings adopt a wide array of subject matter, ranging from traditional Iranian scenes, including portraits of kings and nobles, to European portraits, landscapes, biblical, and mythological scenes. The art does not fully adhere to eit…

a category of books and manuals dealing with horses and horsemanship. Topics treated in this literary genre include horse-breeding, grazing, dressage, veterinary advice, horseracing and betting, and the art of divination based on the mien and movements of horses. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 243-244 FARAS-NĀMA, Persian term for a category of books and manuals dealing with horses and horsemanship. Topics treated in this literary genre include horse-breeding, grazing, dressage, veterinary advice, horserac…

or Parau, a small medieval town in eastern Persia, lying east of the Caspian Sea and just beyond the northern edge of the Kopet-Dag range facing the Kara Kum desert. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 244-245 FARĀVA (Parau), a small medieval town in eastern Persia, lying east of the Caspian Sea and just beyond the northern edge of the Kopet-Dag range facing the Kara Kum desert. In the early Islamic period it was one of a string of strongly defended fortresses ( rebāṭs), also including Abīvard, Nasā, and Dehestān (qq.v.), along the northern front…

Fardin’s 23-year film career blossomed late, after a short stint in the theater, and it suffered an early demise in 1981 when the Islamic Republic of Iran banned him from filmmaking in a wholesale purge of the major entertainers of the pre-revolution era. FARDIN, Moḥammad-ʿAli (b. Tehran, 6 April 1930; d. Tehran, 7 April 2000), a popular Iranian actor (FIGURE 1). Born and raised in a poor neighborhood in the south of Tehran, Moḥammad-ʿAli was the eldest of three children. His father, a carriage builder who later opened his own machinery a…

the Arabic term for “rider on a horse, cavalryman,” connected with the verb farasa/farosa “to be knowledgeable about horses, be a skillful horseman” and the noun faras “horse." A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 245 FĀRES (plurs. forsān, fawāres), the Arabic term for “rider on a horse, cavalryman,” connected with the verb farasa/farosa “to be knowledgeable about horses, be a skillful horseman” and the noun faras “horse.” Since in ancient Arabian society the owner of a horse was a comparatively rich man, often a tribal chief, sayyed, and since in th…

See ABŪ ʿALĪ FĀRESĪ.

(d. 1320), the most significant figure in optics after Ebn al-Hayṯam (Alhazen; 965-1040). The two names have been linked due to his critical revision of Ebn al-Hayṯam’s Ketāb al-manāẓer, which represents a watershed in the scientific understanding of light and vision. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 245-249 FĀRESĪ, KAMĀL-AL-DĪN ABU’L-ḤASAN MOḤAMMAD b. Ḥasan (d. 721/1320), the most significant figure in optics after Ebn al-Hayṯam (Alhazen; 354-430/965-1040). The two names have been linked on account of Kamāl-a…

a literary term used in Arabic literature to refer to poems in Arabic which contain some Persian words or even phrases in their original form, the most notable example being the Fāresīyāt of Abū Nowās. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 249-251 FĀRESĪYĀT, a literary term used in Arabic literature to refer to poems in Arabic which contain some Persian words or even phrases in their original form, the most notable example being the Fāresīyāt of Abū Nowās (q.v.). The term has also been used in a wider sense to include all Persian words, ph…

valley of the Syr Darya (Jaxartes) river extending ca. 300 km between the Farḡāna mountains in the east and the first sharp bend of the river’s course to the north. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 251-254 i. IN THE PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD Under its present name, Farḡāna is first mentioned in written sources only in the 5th century C.E. However, several settlements of the chalcolithic period have been discovered there. There are also some chance finds of Early and Middle Bronze Age objects, even if no burial…

b. Moḥammad b. Kaṯīr (fl. ca. 950 C.E.), Muslim astronomer. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 254-255 FARḠĀNĪ, AḤMAD,b. Moḥammad b. Kaṯīr, Muslim astronomer. Farḡānī flourished at Sāmarrā during the period that it served as the capital of the ʿAbbasid caliphs (836-92 C.E.), though Ṣāʿed Andalosī (p. 141) states that he was one of al-Maʾmūn’s astronomers. Nothing is known about his family nor much about his life beyond his authorship of a triad of influential works and his unsucces…

b. ʿOṯmān Ūšī or Ūsī (d. 1173), oṣūlī jurist ( faqīh), traditionist, and author. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 256-57 FARḠĀNĪ, EMĀM-AL-ḤARAMAYN SERĀJ-Al-DĪN ABU’L-MOḤAMMAD ʿALĪ,b. ʿOṯmān Ūšī or Ūsī, oṣūlī jurist ( faqīh), traditionist, and author. All that is known about him is that he was Hanafite by persuasion and followed the teachings of Mātorīdī. The date of his death is given as 569/1173 (Kaḥḥāla, Moʾallefīn, VII, p. 148; Kašf al-ẓonūn II, p. 1200; Brockelmann, GAL I, p. 429) and 575/1179 (Esmāʿīl Pasha, V, p. 700; Kašf al-ẓonūn II, p. 135…

b. Ahmad (d. 1300), Sufi author from the town of Kāsān in Farḡān. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 255-256 FARḠĀNĪ, SAʿĪD-AL-DĪN MOHAMMAD,b. Ahmad, Sufi author from the town of Kāsān in Farḡāna (d. Ḏu’l-ḥejja 699/August 1300; see Scattolin, 1993, p. 334). According to Farḡānī’s own account (1988, p. 184), he entered the Sufi path under Najīb-al-Dīn ʿAlī b. Bozḡoš of Shiraz (d. 678/1279), a disciple of Šehāb-al-Dīn ʿOmar Sohravardī. He subsequently studied with Ṣadr-al-Dīn Qūnawī (d. …

thirteenth century Persian poet and Sufi of Farḡāna. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 256 FARḠĀNĪ, SAYF-AL-DĪN MOḤAMMAD, Persian poet and Sufi of Farḡāna (q.v.). The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown. The very little information we have about him is gleaned from his poetry. Farḡānī left Farḡāna after the Mongol invasion of Persia in 618/1221 and sojourned for a while in Tabrīz, where he became familiar with Homām Tabrīzī’s poetry. He then left for Asia Minor, where he took up permanent residence at a ḵānaqāh in Āqsarāy, a flourishing c…

romantic figure in Persian legend and literature, best known from the poetry of Neẓāmī Ganjavī as a rival with the Sasanian king Ḵosrow II Parvēz (r. 591-628) for the love of the beautiful Armenian princess Šīrīn. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 257-258 FARHĀD, a romantic figure in Persian legend and literature, best known from the poetry of Neẓāmī Ganjavī (q.v.) as a rival with the Sasanian king Ḵosrow II Parvēz (r. 591-628) for the love of the beautiful Armenian princess Šīrīn. His story, following it…

FARHĀD, name of a number of Parthian kings. See PHRAATES.

military commander of Shah ʿAbbās I, executed at the Shah’s orders in 1598. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 258-260 FARHĀD KHAN QARAMĀNLŪ, ROKN-AL-SALṬANA, military commander of Shah ʿAbbās I (q.v.), executed at the Shah’s orders in 1007/1598. He was a descendent of Bayram Beg Qaramānlū, one of the great amirs under Shah Esmāʿīl, and son of Ḥosām Beg b. Bahrām Beg. Originally Farhād Khan was a retainer of Ḥamza Mīrzā, son of Shah Moḥammad Ḵodā-banda and one of the pretenders to the Safavid throne in the turbulent period p…

(1818-1888), Qajar prince-governor and bibliophile. Holding highly conservative religious views, he viewed Nāṣer-al-Dīn Shah's reformist vizier as an obliterator of the “foundation of the Muslim šarīʿa,” who was guilty of spreading the word “liberty” among the people. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 260-264 FARHĀD MĪRZĀ MOʿTAMAD-AL-DAWLA (b. 1233/1818, Tabrīz; d. 1305/1888, Tehran; Figure 1), Qajar prince-governor, author, and bibliophile. He was the fifteenth son of ʿAbbās Mīrzā (q.v.), younger brother of…

the title of five newspapers and magazines printed in Persia and Europe. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 264-265 FARHANG, the title of five newspapers and magazines printed in Persia and Europe. Presented chronologically they are: 1. Farhang or Farhang-e-Eṣfahān. This was the first newspaper in Isfahan, commencing publication in Jomādā I 1296/April 1879. Beginning with the second year of publication, the name of the city was printed in large letters at the top of the front page; thus it is sometimes referred to as Farhang-e-Eṣfahān. The supposi…

a dictionary of the Persian language named in honor of the maharaja Ānand Gajapatī Rāj, the nineteenth century ruler of Vijayanagar in South India. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 266 FARHANG-E ĀNANDRĀJ, a dictionary of the Persian language named in honor of the maharaja Ānand Gajapatī Rāj, the ruler of Vijayanagar in South India. It was compiled in 1306/1888-89 by the maharaja’s chief secretary ( mīr monšī), the poet and lexicographer Moḥammad Pādɶāh b. Ḡolām Moḥī-al-Dīn, known by the penname Šād. He had previously composed a…

an alternative title for the dictionary Loḡat-e fors. See undeer the author, ASĀDĪ TŪSĪ.

Persian-language dictionary compiled by the well-known fifteenth century poet Ebrāhīm Qewām-al-Dīn Fārūqī. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 267 FARHANG-E EBRĀHĪMĪ, a Persian-language dictionary by the well-known poet Ebrāhīm Qewām-al-Dīn Fārūqī. The author lived in Bihar and compiled his dictionary in 878/1473-74 during the reign of the ruler of Bengal Abu’l Moẓaffar Bārbak Shah (r. 864-79/1460-74). Fārūqī dedicated the work to his spiritual guide ( moršed), the famous Sufi shaikh Šaraf-al-Dīn Aḥmad Monyarī (d. 782/1380-81). …